The last couple of years of school have been especially challenging with Jack. Jack is very smart, curious, creative, inventive but has struggled, really struggled in the area of reading. Each one of our kids has read at a different age and I have learned along the way that kids will read when they are ready to read. I have tried countless programs with Jack to no avail. I have looked at myself long and hard in the mirror and wondered if it was me. Am I not disciplined enough to spend the consistent time with him that it will take to have him read? Am I not skilled enough to teach actual reading? Maybe with the girls I just got lucky? Finally after a long summer of really being consistent and pushing through, Joel and I decided to take Jack for a learning assessment. When we sat down and looked at him as an overall kid, there were pieces for us that weren't lining up.
We ended up taking Jack to Hands on Learning Solutions right here in town. I had been introduced to this center about a year ago by a wonderful woman at my church. I had no idea this place even existed before my conversation with her. Typically, I am leery of "learning centers." Of course, I am a big fan of tutoring and finding others to help you in areas where you need help, but from my experience, it always felt like those places just slapped a band aid on the problem rather than really addressing the issue. During my conversation with her, I got so excited as she explained a place that goes all the way back to birth to find where learning issues might stem from. Not only do they go all the way back to find them, they start in those places to begin retraining the brain. Even though I was so excited about what HOLS was offering, right in my "backyard," it still took me a year before I got up the courage to call. When I look back on it, it feels silly. I was embarrassed to confess to someone that my 7 year old wasn't reading. Not even a little bit. But now, looking in the rearview mirror, I feel sad that my pride got in the way of helping Jack in areas where he has real issues. Thankfully, we weren't too late in getting him help.
After a 4 hour assessment with the amazing staff at HOLS, we had answers for Jack's learning struggles, attention issues and behaviors that just didn't make sense to us. Jack has dyslexia. He also has quite a few reflexes from womb and early life that aren't yet integrated. These things are keeping him from learning everything we have been trying to teach him. I have also not using the correct program to meet his needs as a learner. I had heard about the program before from friends but had not considered something like it for Jack since I was not aware of his dyslexia. Not only was he not reading but he was also struggling with attention, self control, fear and anxiety. After a 2 hour consultation, reviewing Jack's results, we walked away with hope and a plan.
Jack has been attending HOLS for 3 weeks now and I have been amazed at his progress. For the first time, when we go places, he is trying to read signs. They aren't even doing any reading work with him right now! He has mainly been working on reflex integration and attention. It blows my mind that by slowly filling in the holes in his brain and by creating new path ways in the brain, that his brain is already wanting to read because that is what we are created to do. The first week we also saw increased attention and focus and an overall calmer kid. Weeks 2 and 3 have been a little more challenging but I have been assured that it won't last. Each week's lessons and homework get a little more involved and a little more challenging. His brain is working extremely hard! We are also making changes in his diet to help him be his best self. For now, we are eliminating gluten, dairy and sugar. We are hoping that by eliminating these foods, that his body will respond better to the learning activities we are doing.
I am excited for Jack. Just yesterday he said he was looking forward to boosting his grades so that he could go to a good college with his cousin. He wondered if it would be hard to get into college since he has dyslexia. Both Jack and I have a lot to learn about what dyslexia is, what it isn't and how I can help him be his best learning self. I am thrilled for me. Having answers and a plan makes moving forward exciting. Challenging and a lot of work, but exciting. Jack has so many talents and gifts. His learning issues were starting to put a damper on those being fulfilled in his life. I have a lot of learning and training to do so that I can best help Jack. I am up for the challenge and so is he. Together we are a great team!
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